Red Post Collection: State of Champion Update, Arcade Community Creations, League Client Update Q&A, and more!

Tonight's red post collection includes a State of Champion Update post that includes mention of a future large scope GALIO champion update, a set of Arcade community creations, a Q&A with the League Client update team, a look at the community created League film Godlike, and much more!

State of Champion Update

First up we have REAV3 with a State of Champion Update post, covering what the champion update team is currently working on including assassin roster update, splash art updates, and large scope Warwick & Galio champion updates.

"Hey guys,

We thought it would be a good time to do a deep dive into the Champion Update Team. Similar to the “State of the Season” Devblog that Meddler puts out, we wanted to try doing a “State of Champion Update.”

We currently have four small teams on Champion Updates: two focused on the large scale reworks, one focused on our big class updates, and a small team of illustrators (in house and outsourcing partners) that are going through and updating old outdated splash art. I’ll be going over our future projects for all four teams and talk about what the goals for the projects were, as well as reflecting on the goals of our recently released projects.For the sake of clarity we can call them Team A, Team B, the Roster Team, and the Splash Team (though writing this makes me realize that we need to come up with cooler names for the teams).

Roster Team - Class Update Team

Recent Project: Mage Class Update

Our goals with the mage update were similar to previous class updates. We wanted to take a group of low mobility mages and give them all distinct gameplay from each other. We also wanted to give them the tools to survive in a new world of LoL where mobility was King. After the results of previous projects, we also put a stronger emphasis on cohesion. This means we wanted to make sure the changes felt thematic to the character.

Currently we're seeing increased or similar playrate on most of the “big six.” A lot of the mages are perceived as being more viable and distinct after the update as well. These are all big wins but we also don’t think the mages had as big of an impact as previous roster projects. Vel’koz in particular we don’t think we pushed enough. After some recent changes he is back to a similar playrate and is a bit more strategically distinct (that true damage), but all in all we think we could have pushed him further than we did. We also think we should have done less mages in retrospect but pushed the ones we did push further. Malzahar could have used even more work on the game health side and Brand would have been even cooler if we could have fully reworked his Ultimate.

Current Project: Assassin Class Update

Our goals for the Assassin update are to give each Assassin a unique gameplay role, put the entire class in a healthier place, and give Assassins more ways to help their team. We also believe that Assassins really embody the “Skill fantasy” in our game. We want Assassins to have greater outplay potential but also be able to be outplayed. By making them less reliable we can also make their success cases stronger.

One of the big difference with Assassins is that we think we went too safe on the mage changes. We want to really push these characters thematics/play patterns. We found that the projects we put the most time/resources into ended up our most successful projects. With Assassins, we aren't taking the approach of “What one thing can we do to improve this champion?” but rather “What would we have to do to make this Champion complete?” This means we'd have to take on fewer projects, but that each project would have a bigger impact. We still want to do small changes to most of the Assassin class, but we want the main projects to be larger in scope. We're excited to see how this new strategy pans out!

Splash Update Team

The splash update team is a pretty group of illustratos that is primarily focused on updating our old skin splash art as well and creating new splash art for our big VGU’s. (We even did a cool new Malzahar splash for the Mage update!) The most recent projects have been the Nidalee, Tristana, Trundle, and Sion skin splash updates you’ve seen recently. Not much to say here except that we feel these have been super successful and the player response has been outstanding—who doesn’t like awesome splash art? We are currently very close to finishing Fiora’s skin splash update and also have begun early work on updated skin splashes for Twitch.

Team A - Large Rework Team

Recent Project: Ryze

Our goals on Ryze were to update Ryze’s art/lore to modern standards, give Ryze healthier gameplay, and also give Ryze a unique strategic identity that wasn’t just “do a bunch of damage.” We also wanted to make sure he still felt like a “combo mage.”

Overall we feel we did a pretty good job on hitting our goals with Ryze and that he's in the best place he’s been in a long time. New and old players alike are enjoying the Ryze rework, and we feel we have better levers in place to balance Ryze in the future. We also feel that the team teleport really put him in a unique place among or cast. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy watching the abundance of Ryze Teleport videos on social media? Could this be the final rework for Ryze? We sure as hell hope so!

Current Project: Warwick

Shortly after Ryze wrapped up, Team A jumped onto the much anticipated Warwick Rework. So what are our goals with the Warwick update? Currently Warwick is very beginner friendly. We actually want to embrace that and push it even further than it is now. We want Warwick's gameplay to actually teach new junglers how to be an effective jungler. Right now Warwick can’t gank until level 6, but what if Warwick's kit actually encouraged players to gank often and early? We also have heard loud and clear that player think Warwick’s kit is kind of boring and outdated. While we don’t want to raise Warwick’s skill floor, we do want to increase his skill ceiling a bit and add more depth to his gameplay. We also want to bring Warwick's art and thematics up to modern Riot standards by giving him a proper place in our world. We think violence is an important theme for Warwick and we want to see how far we can push that thematic.

Team B - Large Rework Team

Current Project: Yorick

Let’s talk about Yorick! Yorick just hit PBE and should be raising undead armies against hapless players all over the world, but let’s talk about what the goals of the project were. Once we got the team together on Yorick, we started to break down what we thought was absolutely important for him. We read tons of player feedback and had countless meetings. At the end of all that, the three things we thought were the core of Yorick were that he summons Ghouls, that he is a beefy juggernaut with a shovel, and that he is kind of the “good guy” of the Shadow Isles (or as good as a Shadow Isles character can be). We feel pretty confident that we hit our goals, and we can’t wait for you guys to get your hands on him so you can let us know how you feel.

Next Project: Galio

I’m happy to announce that after looking into a few projects, we finally got a solid direction on the next project that Team B will roll onto after Yorick. It's the champion people love to forget, Galio! Currently Galio has a lot of problems. His theme, gameplay, and art hasn’t aged very well at all. This gives us a pretty wide canvas to paint on and Galio will likely be our largest transformation to date. So what are our goals with Galio? With Galio we want to see if we can really deliver on a mid lane focused tank/mage , as we think that opens up a lot of interesting strategies (not that he has to be played exclusively mid of course). We also think that him being some sort of statue/construct is super important as well as his strong ties to Demacia. DEMACIAAAAAAAA! (Had to get that out of my system.)

Final Thoughts

So that’s what Champion Update has been up to and where we are headed in the future. Would love to hear where you guys thought we did or didn’t hit our goals, as well as what you think about our goals on future projects.

Reav3Product Lead of Champion Updates"

Following the main post, Reav3 hung around the boards and reddit to answer a few more questions:

But will the VO, animations, sounds, etc. be different from what the standard galio is going to get? Because it should be. That is the current standard for legendary skins. And we've all been waiting for the first champ with a "true" legendary skin to get updated because we are eager to see what you do with them

That's the plan yes. WE probably arn't going to go the same scope as Dark Star Thresh or Dragon Trainer Trist. But on Live Gatekeepr has new anims, VO, VFX and SFX, so we would wan't to maintain all that for the update."

When asked who is currently working on Galio's update, Reav3 commented:

"Quote:

I am afraid, however the team working on him has been pretty good in the past. I played a game with RiotScruffy and asked him who was working on him and he said it was Solcrushed

Correct SolCrushed is the designer on Galio. LoneWingy is the Concept Artists and JohnODyin is the Narrative Writer. Same team that did Yorick"

Theyve also stated previously that some updates will surpass others if they have a higher amount of interest or if they have more clear ideas already for that champion. So possibly the update teams are either very disinterested in working on Urgot, or are having trouble "remaking" him with any kind of good changes. They might just not know what to do at the moment.

We also didn't want to do 2 back to back Zaun champions(While Urgot is technically Noxian, he has strong ties with Zaun). Also with Yorick just coming out and Warwick up next we didn't want to do another "dark" champion."

We always prioritize champions that need it the most but if there are multiple champions that need a rework the same amount then things like faction, light/dark, role come into play. We view Galio and Urgot as the same level of priority for a rework, so then things like faction, role and what not come into play."

just a note but I think a good idea would be to have a setting that allows for the original cursor instead of the new one if this is possible it would definitely cause less of a headache in case people find problems with it.

Yep, we would certainly consider this as part of a potential release."

2016 Victorious Skin not for Viktor, Gragas, or Graves

Redditor Pentakilly has discovered a NEOGAF boards thread from PhillipCostigan where, in response to a discussion on the upcoming ranked reward skin, he commented the 2016 Victorious skin is not for Viktor, Gragas, or Graves.

With the 2015 skin previewed in early October, keep an eye out for more clues for the 2016 Victorious skin!

Blitzcrank <3 Poro Shirt in Merch Shop

[COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT] Godlike: a League film

"Hey summoners! Today we’re showcasing a visually stunning and emotionally powerful film by League player and acclaimed writer/director Mickey Finnegan. In “Godlike,” a League of Legends player loses his mother, and sets out to find himself through the high stakes world of competitive esports.

Read on to learn about Mickey and his work!

What inspired you to make Godlike?

I’ve been directing professionally for eight years and playing League for three. I also followed the LCS during that time and was inspired by some of the pro player stories and experiences I’d heard about. This gave me the opportunity to bring together two of my favorite things in the world: film and gaming. Once I got the idea in my head, I brainstormed with Jennifer Khoe (“Godlike” producer) to come up with a narrative that would resonate with both fans of the game and people who know nothing about esports.

Why is esports such an inspiration?

One of the things that really drew me to this project was seeing how the personal stories of professional gamers shared relatable themes, emotions, and origins. Many of them have experienced depression, loneliness, being bullied at school, or feeling like outcasts. But through online games, they are often able to find themselves and encounter other like-minded people. Some of them are even fortunate enough to make lifelong friendships and careers out of gaming.

What was the most fun part of making the film?

The most fun part was getting to work with Team Liquid. Having them was a huge boost to bringing the world of the film to life. It’s also fun to see them as actors. They did a great job and we were thrilled to have them participate. I also think they had a good time as well!

Do you have any funny stories that came about during your process of making the film?

We had to shoot the scenes that take place in a PC Bang during working hours, since we couldn’t close down the place. So we filmed at the PC Bang before it opened, and then the place would fill up. On the day that Team Liquid was there, I could tell there were a number of people who were showing up just to play League and were surprised to see the team filming. There were these three guys in particular that were taking pictures from afar. So I asked them, “If I let you guys take a picture with the team, will you be extras in the film?” They said yes, and they got real photos of themselves with Team Liquid while we rolled camera!

Do you have any plans to make more League-inspired films?

I certainly hope so. We would love to make a feature film where we get to dig deeper into the League esports community and tell a full coming-of-age story through the lens of gaming. (It would also be really cool to see more live action shorts and films using League characters!) Whatever it might be, I would certainly love to create more.

What was your favorite part of the film? Let us know in the comments!"

Legends Rising

The second season of LEGENDS RISING starts up on September 7th! Check out the trailer below:

"Legends Rising Season 2 follows six of the game's greatest pros through the hard work and sacrifice necessary to achieve greatness. Do they have what it takes to become a legend? Join us every week starting September 7 as we see their journey in a six-part series."

League client update Q&A

"[COMPLETED] - Thanks for all of your amazing questions today everyone! We'll be checking in on this thread throughout the rest of the day, but most of us have to head to meetings for now. Remember to sign up for the Alpha today here - http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/client-update

Hail o mighty League subredditors!

We're the League Client Update dev team and we're here to take your questions!

General

When asked when various new features would be added to the Alpha, RiotZwill reminded:

"Quote:

Will the new client feature a sandbox mode? Serious question not memeing

To reinforce what /u/mar1us1602 said below - for the alpha/beta phase we're focusing almost completely on parity and improvements to what already exists in the Air client.
New client functionality is something that will always be a priority and the foundation we're laying with the client update will empower us to deliver more awesome features in the future."

No disrespect, but from the looks of the client so far there are very few new features being added. This seems like an opportune time to be adding new features. Is the client update focused around rebuilding the back end to allow for new features, more so than just optimizing, or should we not expect new features.

That's an accurate observation. The updated client is a visual and technical remake with completely new underlying tech and visual style. While it will not be launching with new features, it will allow us to deliver new features, faster. It will also have some neat little quality of life improvements like out-of-game settings and in-client ability scaling information."

With the introduction of a new client you surely thought about expanding the possibilities that come with a new client. Will we see completely new features in the near future / could there be the possibility that we can create our own plugins/features in the future?

We are working on getting to feature parity with AIR as fast as possible. That being said, AIR client deprecation is actually the starting line. Completely new features will come in as soon as we can make em :) I dont think that we have any plans on allowing players to make features / plugins because of all the complications with it (e.g. security)."

Is there alot of abillity to expand upon this client?Obviously you guys will make the most of this one, and add as much features as possible. But things go quickly, seeing the mass amount of suggestions for the client rack up every week here on Reddit. You can never have too many features.

Yes, the updated client is a technical and visual remake of the current client and while it is not launching with new features, it will allow us to add new features quicker."

Feature Requests

When asked about adding the ability to adjust champion select music and sounds, riotninjatabby commented:

"Quote:

Will it be possible to modify the champion selection music again?

We'll be adding the ability to adjust the volumes of various sounds and sound channels in the near future, if that's what you mean!"

Will you add separate audio sliders for music and sound In client, I don't want to turn audio of for fear of missing the accept game button, but the champ select music makes it impossible to hear anyone. Its just been an annoyance for me while using the client update.

Ima ask the real question will we be able to see 3d skin models in the new client.

Imma hijack this to point out that, even if y'all are interested in talking about new features like a 3d model viewer, the goal for the client update team right now is not to deliver new features—we're rebuilding the foundation of the client with new tech (and sexy new visuals). Once we finish building in more features, teams will be freed up to build new ones.

Also, lots of us know people want a 3D skin viewer."

As for being able to make custom groups of champions, riotninjatabby noted:

"Quote:

Have you guys thought about adding the ability to make groups of champions to have in champion select? (Ex: If I type in support in champion select I could have Karma, Thresh, Braum, Bard, Tahm Kench, etc.)

We're currently tossing around ideas for a couple different ways to address this. Some examples are sorting by recently played, sorting by most played, or just giving you the custom groups you described (which is my personal favorite). But getting all the queues supported is the champ select team's current priority."

Beta estimation & Improvements

When asked when to expect a live beta of the LCU instead of the alpha, Cactopus noted:

"Quote:

When will it all be finished and released for everyone?

Waddup bartmanzo. We've already eased up on our rules for letting in alpha testers, so about half a million people are already using the updated client. But when we go to open beta, the client update will become an opt-in upgrade for everyone who wants in. We expect that to happen before the end of the year, so long as something heinous doesn't happen. Like, I guess if the office microwave explodes and blinds the dev team, it could be delayed."

When asked about the current criteria for LCU Alpha access, Zwill noted:

"Quote:

What has been your process for selecting beta testers?

At this point we're giving access to anyone who meets the following criteria:

Players who haven't had their account suspended or chat restricted in game.

Would that open beta still be on the PBE or available to opt-in on live servers too?

We'll probably always have some component of the LCU beta available on PBE, however in this case it will be available on live servers as well, as the Alpha is."

As for how the new client will run compared to the current AIR client, RiotCredo noted:

"Quote:

I do not quite understand. Will this new client increase performance or decrease performance?

We are aiming to have it run faster with lower memory. We have shown the client can run with less memory than the AIR client, but we are always working on improving the performance. We hope to be able to run faster than the AIR client as well."

We want to provide the best experience possible to all players. That being said, we definitely are going to have some options which will turn off some of the animations in the client. We know that performance is a critical issue that we are constantly working to improve. For that reason, we currently have disabled the fancy ready check animation into champion select. When we can improve the performance, we currently plan on having the current ready check animation as the low performance version and the full swooshing one that you saw in the video as the high performance version. Does that make sense?"

DontHassleDaHoff also chimed in on some shop improvements they are working on:

"Quote:

Will you make the store load faster?Also, what's your respective favorite champs.

We're doing a few things here to make the Store load faster.

1) We're going from serially loading images (one at a time) to multithreaded (many at once)

2) We're prioritizing leveraging the same images that are on your machine (vs. pushing out separate images)

3) We're adding in caching so that you don't always have to start all over again.

4)We're going through and optimizing the experience to clean out more of the spaghetti code - it should be an improvement over what's currently live."

When asked why they didn't immediately enabled ranked now that normal draft is on the LCU Alpha, RiotZwill added:

"Quote:

How does ranked draft and normal draft differ in terms of the client? Like once you finish normal draft wouldn't ranked be a copy paste for the most part?

It's really more of an issue of stability and performance than it is of it being difficult to implement.

TLDR: we don't want you to potentially lose LP because the draft mechanism isn't fully stable in the client update Alpha."

As for when we might see ranked queue hit the LCU Alpha, riotninjatabby noted:

"Quote:

When is it gonna be finished and when will ranked be available on the alpha client?

Ranked is on PBE right now, and we're hoping to get it onto live in the next release or two. This game mode raises the stakes (since dodge penalties and precious LP will be on the line), so we're being a little more cautious and working hard to ensure a higher level of stability before we push it to the live alpha.